Across the Universe: An Artist and A Soldier
by alittlebird16
Summary: A random collection of Max and Jude one-shots based off the songs from the album. Yaoi, randomness, and lemons. All My Loving (Part One): Max is being deported in the morning. The boys celebrate and then become serious. Angst-y. T for boy kisses and Jude's mouth.
1. Hold Me Tight

_Across the Universe: An Artist and a Soldier_

_Chapter 1 ~ Hold Me Tight_

A/N: So, welcome to my random new collection of one-shots! These will be about Max and Jude since I'm entirely convinced thier relationship is canon and Lucy should just leave. :) And also because there is not enough fanfiction about these two! Plus, ATU is my favorite movie. :D So these will be based off the songs on the album with some creative liberties taken. Yes, I realize the first song is _Girl _but I don't think that works with yaoi, do you? So here's thes second song: _Hold Me Tight. _Yes, it's very fluffy and a bit corny, but I have no love life and so I have to live vicariously through my writing. And since I'm a hopeless romantic, this is how it turned out. Maybe you like it, maybe you don't, either way drop me a line. Enjoy~!

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><p>Lightning flashed outside the window of the small apartment. <em>1…2…<em>Thunder crashed, shaking the walls, and Jude's count of only two seconds between the two meant that the storm was close, very close. Another flash of lightning lit up the room, the beaded curtain between his room and Max's throwing strange shadows on the wall. Jude rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. He was just starting to drift off when a loud crack of thunder wrenched him back into consciousness. Turning so he was laying on his stomach, Jude wriggled his head under his pillow, hoping it would block out most of the sound so he could get some sleep. This worked for all of five minutes until a particularly loud thunderclap startled him so much that he almost fell out of bed. _This is getting ridiculous, _Jude grumbled to himself. Normally he didn't have any trouble sleeping through storms. This one just seemed to be particularly loud and violent. _And bright, _Jude thought, squinting as a flash of lightning burned the layout of the room onto his corneas.

Sighing, Jude decided to give up on sleep for now. After all, the storm couldn't last much longer, could it? As if to prove him wrong, the sky let loose with more thunder and lightning, this time accompanied by a torrent of rain lashing against the window. Scowling, he leaned back against the pillows and let his mind wander. As usual, half-formed ideas for sketches drifted past his mind's eye, but he let them pass. He didn't have any pencils or paper readily available and he was much too lazy to get up and search through the desk to find some. _I really should start keeping a notebook by my bed, _Jude thought.

Another crash of thunder rang out and from the other room came the sounds of bed frame creaking as someone shifted around. _Max must not be able to sleep either. _For a minute, Jude toyed with the idea of going in to see him. Since they both couldn't sleep perhaps they could find some way to pass the time until the storm let up. However, he quickly discarded that idea when he heard Max begin to mumble incoherently. Jude smiled softly, recognizing Max's usual sleep-babble. His best mate was obviously still asleep, albeit restlessly as evidenced by his talking. It was something he used to do all the time before the war, Jude remembered fondly. He strained his ears, trying to catch what Max was saying since it usually turned out to be quite amusing. He heard his name a few times, as well as Lucy's and what might have been the words "strawberry Cap'n Crunch" though it was quite hard to tell.

The storm started to let up and Jude began to drift off again, Max's mumbling providing a nice background hum. Suddenly he was startled out of sleep again, this time by a particularly loud moan from Max. He sat up in the dark, heart racing, as he listened to what he was sure was his best mate caught in the throes of a nightmare. There was another moan, this time followed by a shout of "No!" Jude hesitated, torn between going in to wake Max up and staying put. He was more drawn to the latter since Max usually didn't like anyone to see him when he was like this. Just listening though, was proving to be difficult. There were more cries from behind the beaded curtain, the other man's voice becoming more strained. "No...Don't…" The metal frame of the bed creaked as Max shifted violently. "_Don't…" _Jude sighed, still unsure what his course of action should be. He figured Max was having flashbacks from the war; it wasn't the first time this had happened either.

"Judey…" and with that Jude's decision was made for him. There was no way he could ignore him now. Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, he got up, the springs protesting loudly. He shivered as his bare feet hit the floor and quickly hopped over to Max's room. The beads clacked softly together as he pushed through them, trying to make as little disturbance – and noise – as possible. But perhaps he should have burst through the curtain and set the beads to swaying and clacking against the walls, effectively waking Max up. Though that was a harsh way to be jerked out of a nightmare and Jude was a nicer bloke than that.

He tiptoed over to the bed and stood looking down at the blond boy for a moment. His hand fluttered free of the covers as he turned over, reaching out unconsciously towards where Jude was standing. "No…**don't…**Jude!" he startled awake with a gasp. His eyes wandered around the room, coming to rest his dark-haired flat mate. "Holy shit!" he swore, sitting fully upright.

Jude raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Hey, it's just me, man. I just wanted to see if you were alright."

Max let out a shaky breath and dropped the covers he was holding in his hands so that they pooled around his waist. The dark-haired boy tried – and failed – not to notice the contours of his shirtless chest, but his attention was drawn back to his face as he whispered "I'm all right," in a rough voice. His hands were in his hair, hiding his face, but Jude could just tell from his tone that he was trying his hardest not to cry.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

There was a nod. "Just," Max removed his hands from his face to look at the other boy. "Go back to bed or something. I'm fine." His eyes said otherwise. They were his most expressive feature and it was how Jude always knew when he was lying. Right now, they were a torrent of pain and regret. Memories of the war were buried deep inside; things he could never relate to, no matter how good of a friend he was.

Ignoring the blond's words, he took a step towards the bed. There was a warning in Max's eyes now, a warning to stay away. Ignoring this as well, the artist continued his slow advance towards the bed until he was standing directly in front of his friend. He reached out a hand and grasped the ex-soldier's. "I'm here for you."

This simple gesture seemed to open the floodgates and tears began to pour down Max's cheeks. Jude moved to sit down on the bed next to him, one arm wrapping around his shoulders while the other still held his hand. He sat there and held his best mate as he cried himself out, holding him tight when he began to shake. "Shh, Max, it's gonna be alright," he whispered. "It's gonna be alright." He kept up this mantra until the blond boy had cried himself out and the front of Jude's t-shirt was wet with salty tears. He laid him back on the mattress as his eyelids began to flutter and his breathing evened out. The dark-haired boy stood up, disentangling himself from the other, his expression torn. After a few minutes of mental debate, he leaned down to place a soft kiss on the blond's forehead. He turned and was about to go back to his own room to pass what he was sure to be a sleepless night, when a light pressure on his forearm stopped him.

"Judey…" Max's voice was groggy with sleep. "Don't…don't go…please." The fingers on his arm slid down to wrap themselves around his own. Though his grip was weak with exhaustion, Jude felt as if he was rooted to the spot. His mind went into overdrive, thinking through the possible consequences if he stayed or didn't stay but he stopped it almost immediately. He knew what was going to happen; he knew he was going to stay.

"Alright Max," he whispers. "I'll stay." Keeping their fingers intertwined, he climbed in next to his friend, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him close. The blond boy sighed in contentment and snuggled closer to the artist. Jude drifted off to sleep faster than he thought possible, completely comfortable right where he was.

And the nightmares stopped.


	2. I'll Send All My Loving

_Across the Universe: An Artist and a Soldier_

_Chapter 2 ~ All My Loving (Part One)_

A/N: Hello, lovelies. I am back! Please enjoy yet another update of this marvelous look into Jude and Max's romantic life. This is part one of the two-shot I am basing off of the song "All My Loving."

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><p>Sunlight streamed through the window, hitting the bowl of apples at just the right angle for Jude to finish his painting. But his brush hung in midair and the canvas remained half-done. <em>He's leaving in the morning, <em>a small voice in his mind said and the dark-haired man waved his free hand irritably in the air as if the thought were a bothersome fly he could simply shoo away. He did not need the reminder that his boyfriend was going off to war the next day. It took up enough of his head space without it constantly being brought to his attention, thank you very much.

Sighing, he decided to abandon this project for now seeing as the sun was quickly sinking below the horizon and his window of opportunity was shrinking rapidly. He took down the frame and leaned it against the wall in the corner where it would be out of the way. Folding up the easel, he focused on each action his hands were performing. The exercise helped him ignore the fate that morning would bring for Max.

As he cleaned up the rest of his materials, he noticed his oil pastels, jumbled messily in a box on the shelf. Smiling, he went over to them and lifted out the red one, his favorite as was evidenced by how short and stubby it was in comparison to the others. On impulse he decided to start a new drawing with these as his medium. Perhaps working with his favorite tools would help to clear his head.

Fetching a sheet of paper and his drawing pad, he settled himself on a stool in front of the bay window, the setting sun providing more than enough light. He started at the creamy whiteness of the paper while he waited for inspiration to strike. Normally, he didn't have to wait long. Jude prided himself on his creative ability and his knack for creating something out of nothing. But this evening it appeared as if his muse had taken the night off. The red pastel was gripped lightly in his fingers, prepared to sketch, but his mind's eye was blank.

Swearing in frustration, he threw the crayon back into the box at his feet. It broke from the excessive force and that only caused the dark-haired man to let loose with more expletives. Getting up, he stomped over to the shelves to put his things away, grumbling to himself the whole time. He was so caught up in his internal monologue that he didn't notice someone come in and stand in the doorway, watching him with a smile quirking up their lips.

XxXxXx

Max leaned against the doorframe, just out of Jude's line of sight. He was enjoying watching the dark-haired man become flustered and sullen as he took out whatever he was feeling on his poor art supplies. In fact, Jude was providing so much entertainment for the younger man that he could _almost _forget what was to occur in just twelve short hours: his deployment. Just the mere thought of the word made his skin crawl. And to think, he ate all that cotton for nothing! Shaking off the dark thoughts, he entered the room, intent on helping Jude do the same to his musings.

Even though he was making no effort to be quiet, the artist still had no inkling the blond boy was about to sneak up on him. Which was why it gave Max so much satisfaction to wrap his arms around him from behind and watch Jude jump nearly three feet in the air. "Jesus, mate, what did you have to go and do that for?"

Peeking up at him through too-long bangs, he replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Jude smiled down at him, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Of course you don't." And he untangled himself from the embrace to walk over to the window and stare moodily down into the streets below.

Max sighed. Half of him – his insecure half – was secretly overjoyed that Jude would miss him this much; the other half was merely glad that he could forget his own troubles in favor of cheering up his boyfriend. And these two thoughts came together to lend a mischievous twinkle to his eye that did not bode well for the boy he sauntered over to.

XxXxXx

Jude sighed again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately, but he was powerless to stop. It wasn't that he was going to miss the pesky, whiny little blighter…but he was, desperately. And as hard as he tried to hide that fact from Max – whose ego didn't need any more inflating – he had a feeling he was failing miserably. Even Sadie had noticed he wasn't he usual self as of late, ever since Max had received his notice that included a departure date. A date that had come up much quicker than Jude had wanted it too. He had always counted on having Max there. And as annoying as that fact was sometimes, he didn't want to change it for the world.

"Judey…" In spite of himself, the dark-haired man smiled. He recognized the plaintive tone that entered Max's voice when he wanted something.

"Yes?" he asked, knowing he wouldn't be able to deny the blond anything, on tonight of all nights.

"Let's go out for a drink."

XxXxXx

One drink turned into three, which turned into four, and then Jude lost count. He was only aware that he was thoroughly and pleasantly smashed as he and Max stumbled home in the wee hours of the morning.

The streets were slick and shiny with the rain that had come while they were inside the pub. But the clouds had long since disappeared and the stars provided more than enough light for them to weave their way home.

Max was a little ahead of him, but he abruptly turned back and stalked towards Jude until he was pressed against the alley wall. "Um," he asked a little breathlessly, "can I help you, mate?"

"I'm going to think about you while I'm away," the blond whispered, his eyes glinting in a way that promised the thoughts would be far from innocent. As if to prove this, he placed a hand on the grimy brick wall on either side of the artist and placed a trail of kisses down his throat that made the Brit's knees shake.

"Oh yeah?" Jude responded when he could speak again. "I hope you'll share these thoughts in the letters you promised to write." It wasn't perfect, but it was the best he could come up with. His intoxicated state made him more daring and flirtatious than his usual soft spoken self.

"Oh, I will," the soon-to-be soldier replied, his face still buried in his boyfriend's neck.

"Every day?" the suddenly serious note in Jude's voice caused Max to look up. They were both beginning to sober up now and the gravity of their situation was starting to show itself in Jude's eyes and in the way his voice grew small as if he knew he was asking for too much.

"Yes, mother," Max replied with an eye roll. But he moved his hands to cradle the dark-haired man's face and his eyes showed the same gravity and solidified the promised despite the sarcastic remark. "No matter how many cute boys there are in my section," he continued with a wink.

That remark earned his a pinch on the rear from the Brit who swallowed the younger man's yelp of surprise and pain with a deep kiss that left boy men panting for breath when they finally parted.

Finally and completely serious, Max spoke, "I love you, Jude."

The artist opened his mouth to answer, found he couldn't reply – whether it was from the tears suddenly closing his throat or fear of those three words, he couldn't tell. Instead, he pulled Max close for another searing kiss that broke off with a moan from the blond and a tug on his wrist that promised more behind closed doors.

And as his boyfriend lead him towards home, Jude looked up at the cold, unfeeling stars and sent out a plea to whoever was listening: "Keep him safe."


End file.
